Ave Caesar?
by HarmlessWampa
Summary: So basically a different turn from my other story, Terranova. What if Shepard worked with Legion instead? Most likely a romance later, please read and review. *currently redoing to tweak some things
1. Chapter 1

**So what if Shepard sided with the Legion instead? Obviously same backstory as the other one, if you want a brief despcription just read the beginning of my other story, Terranova. Romance later cause I'm just like that**. **By the way, this Shepard is the same as the other one and yadda yadda yadda, I'd really like it if someone could help me with the Legion's characters, it'd be pretty noyce. Jack isn't in this story, just the courier and Shepard. **

**I don't own Fallout: New Vegas or Mass Effect, and if I did I'd probably be on a vacation in New Zealand or something right now. **

Her bag hit the floor of the Saloon with a dull thud, she nodded her head for a drink and ran her fingers through her thick chocolate brown hair, _I need a shower._

She drummed her fingers on the counter with her chin in her hand. "You okay, sweetie? Ya look tired." The bartender behind the counter asked while wiping a glass clean to pour herself a drink.

"Fine." Naima straightened herself out, "Anything interesting happen lately?"

The bartender, Trudy, sighed, "Nothing really." She hesitated for a brief moment, "Actually heard that that courier should be waking up soon. Poor thing, shot in the head and left to rot."

Naima sipped her drink and let the woman continue talking, and she tuned her out. She'd only been there for a week, in Goodsprings. How she made the decision to leave the Normandy, or come here, for that matter; she'll never really know. But what she really knew was that she liked it here better, even though a significant majority of her crew did not appreciate her departure…especially to a colony that has been flagged by the Alliance with a 'travel advisory' for well over 100 years.

It's not like her crew hated her or anything for leaving, they didn't feel betrayed either, but they felt…rather empty. The crew could handle themselves, and there weren't any threats besides the occasional slavers or pirates, but they would miss Shepard's charisma and leadership.

She tried her best to placate her crew by saying she would be back, but they both knew she was lying. Naima was tired, exhausted from always having to fix the galaxy's problems, only to be pestered by the Alliance or the Council for her choices (which were usually necessary).

She made a promise to them though, that she would occasionally return to the Normandy once a year or so. Of course her team and crew tried to negotiate a better schedule, but it was better than nothing.

Trudy's voice cut through Naima's thoughts, and she lifted her head to make it look as if she had been attentive the whole duration of the one sided conversation. The door swung open and creaked, and in stepped in Sunny Smiles.

Naima flashed a grin at her, she liked the girl since she was the only friend she enjoyed talking to in Goodsprings. She was also the person who taught her about survival in the Mojave, about its mutated inhabitants and such.

Sunny took the seat next to Shepard and ordered a drink, "Hey."

Naima wasn't really much of a talker, but she enjoyed being around someone who loved guns as much as her, "Hey yourself. What's up?"

Sunny leaned forward more and propped her elbows up on the bar counter, "Well…just met the courier kid. He doesn't remember anything."

"And?" Naima had planned on staying for a while, but she picked up from Trudy's chat that this courier had been shot and almost buried alive and she was curious. Maybe she could help the kid out and leave this place after all.

"Calls himself John." She shrugged and motioned for another drink, "He said he wants to go after the guy who shot him, so I figured I could show him how to use a gun later. Wanna come?"

_Just what I needed_, Naima smirked, "Sure."

"Good, I think he's with Doc right now, but he'll be done soon. I'll bring him here."

Naima pushed herself off of her seat, "Alright, I'll be outside." She disappeared out the back door of the saloon and stretched out her muscles in the shade. She felt like she would look nosy if she asked the courier about what happened, but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature to pry into other people's business. That, and she wanted to have someone to travel with, something to do, someone to fight. Just because she left the Normandy to avoid the politics and its bullshit didn't mean she didn't enjoy a good 'ol fight once in a while. She tried discussing with Sunny about her being a potential partner to travel with, but Sunny said something along the lines of "protecting Goodsprings from all of the big and scary deathclaws out there".

Her ear twitched when the sounds of muffled footsteps came nearby, and she figured it was Sunny and the courier. She stood up and dusted any dirt off of her leather armor, she still had the Onyx armor but only saved that for when things would get real bad.

Naima cringed when she saw the scars on the courier's forehead, reminding her of her own scars she had after being rebuilt.

"Hey Naima, this is the courier, John."

She began to speak, but her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "Hey…John? It's John, right?" Shepard was never an expert on remembering names.

"Yeah, name's John. Shepard, I presume?" Naima noticed how the man subconsciously rubbed the scars on his temple.

Sunny interrupted the short silence by placing a varmint rifle in John's hands, "Let's start shootin' things!"

John wasn't that great of a shooter, but who could blame him since he was shot in the head a week before. Probably didn't even know where he was, but Shepard was hoping that he'd slowly regain his memory back. After Sunny and Shepard both helped John with his aim, they called it a day and Sunny left the two of them to chat.

Naima scratched her ear, unsure of how to ask about what happened to him, "Do you remember anything?"

He ran his fingers over the rifle in his lap, "I remember being shot."

She raised an eyebrow, "What the hell were you doing in the wasteland by yourself anyways?" She'd been there for merely a week, and even she knew that people shouldn't be traveling by themselves.

"I was just a courier, a messenger. They're not supposed to get attacked in the middle of nowhere…"

"Unless they have something valuable." She finished his sentence, "What were you delivering?"

"A platinum chip, seemed worthless, it's just a chip, ya know? But I remember, I remember a man with a nice suit, he's the one who shot me. Dressed real nice, so that tells you something."

"Hnh, well what are you going to do now?"

"I just want answers."

"Maybe we should travel together…?"

"I don't want to put your life at risk." The courier murmured.

Shepard let out a hearty laugh, "Kid, don't be so naïve. Whoever did this to you was after what you had, not _you_. There's no reason for you to worry about that. Besides, I can handle myself."

"Then why do you want to travel with someone?"

She paused to think, she usually had something to say, but she couldn't answer his question. She stumbled over the words in her head and tried to piece together an answer, "Well…I'd get bored and I would want someone to talk to."

He straightened himself out, which turned out to be a good sign, "I guess. As long as you either help me get revenge or you stay out of my way."

"I know what it's like, don't worry."

"Well, glad we could agree then." He turned his head, "I want to stay the night though."

Shepard sighed, she really didn't want to, but whatever made the kid happy, "Sure."

**Okay this is short, but it's a test to see if anyone's interested in reading this more. The title is bad, I'm never good with those. I'm sorry if this chapter is so boring, and basically my other story, but it will change, I hope. So tell me if you think I should continue this or not? Please let me know in the reviews section, yeah? If I continue the next chapter will definitely be about meeting the Legion and such, and by the way, I'll be changing the order of the story because I hate how in the game there's so little quests for the Legion but millions for the NCR…**


	2. Chapter 2

"Why can't we ever kill something tough?"

John had been ignoring Naima's rant for the past ten minutes, but he had to respond to this, "We just killed four deathclaws and you're complaining that that's not enough?"

"Well…yeah. I'm not used to killing things that easily."

John turned around fully to face her, "Let me get this straight, you want tougher things to kill?"

"Shit, cut me some slack, John! My team and I took down the galaxy's biggest threat, so yeah, I'm not used to it." Naima didn't want to snap back, but she was running on a few hours of sleep _and_ she didn't get her morning coffee.

It was usually the smell of the hot coffee that would wake her up, but in this case, it'd be the smell of burning tires and flesh. She turned her head, "You smell that?"

John stopped and stuck his nose up, "Yeah, smells like tires." He skimmed the horizon, and paused at the smoke leaving a small city surrounded by gates, he pointed, "It's coming from there."

Naima squinted her eyes to read the sign more clearly, "That's…Nipton?"

"You sound surprised."

"Well…there's nothing nice out here but I didn't think this place would be _that_ bad."

"You have high expectations."

"Shut up."

They made their way to the gates of Nipton, and Shepard even became good friends with the now ex-Powder Ganger by telling him to kindly fuck off.

"This place sucks ass, by the way, John." She grumbled.

By now, John had gotten used to Shepard's colorful language, and her rather interesting eating habits. _Blame the biotics_, is what she would tell him. "I know, I know. Let's just get to Novac." He replied, anything to shut her up.

Naima walked ahead of John, and took note of the crosses that lined the road to Nipton's town hall. She didn't want to help the damn Powder Gangers, they brought this on themselves; she was firm believer in karma. She turned to John, who was somewhat disturbed.

John was waiting for her reaction.

She stared back at him, and then back to the Powder Gangers…

…and burst out in laughter.

"Oh god, this is too funny!"

Both of John's eyebrows shot up in surprise, she was…laughing? "What's so funny?"

"It…just is. I dunno, it's funny. It's karma." She straightened herself out and turned away from the crucified Powder Gangers, "There's some guys up there by the town hall. Maybe we can find some other things to do out here, I like this place now."

* * *

><p>The recruit legionary looked at Vulpes, who was just as confused as him. This was not the reaction he expected, but he still enjoyed it.<p>

He saw the woman ignore the rest of the moans of the dying men, and make her way towards them. She wasn't bothered at all by the fires and death surrounding her, she didn't even flinch. The man behind her, however, was slightly perturbed. _Degenerate._

His thoughts were interrupted and he heard the woman speak, "I really like the decorations you guys set up here, especially the heads," she paused to observe the decapitated heads on the stakes, "Nice effect."

Vulpes was generally a man of few words, but he always had something to say if needed be; he wasn't sure if the woman truly meant it or was mocking his work. He continued to stare at her and she didn't react or cower in fear.

Shepard cleared her throat in an effort to break the silence, "You won't try to do this to me, will ya?"

"Don't worry I won't have you lashed to a cross like the rest of those degenerates. It's useful that you happened by."

The woman grinned, and turned to the man behind her, "Told you this is funny!"

Vulpes raised an eyebrow, "I'm glad that you find humor in this. But there is something I ask of you."

The woman sighed, "Why can't anyone ever just talk to me, noooo there's always a catch…but, I can do whatever you need. Just tell me what happened here, and if you tell me where you got that hat…" She trailed off at the end of her sentence, and looked back at Vulpes.

"I wanted you to witness the fate of the town of Nipton, to memorize every detail."

"Don't worry about that, I'm cherishing every moment that I'm here!" She flashed him another smile.

He ignored her smile and continued, "And then, when you move on? I want you to teach everyone you meet the lesson that Caesar's Legion taught here, especially to any NCR troops you run across."

She gave him a thumbs up, "Got it. Tell people about your lessons. But, ah, what were those?"

"This town is full of criminals, who were willing to sacrifice their "loved" ones in order for them to live. They could have fought back, or made an attempt; but they chose to tremble and fall to the Legion."

"Damn. And this is how you punish them?" She gestured to the men behind her and the decapitated heads.

"Yes, when a legionary acts in cowardice he is punished in front of the others as a lesson. Let this town be a lesson to others."

"I see," She crossed her arms, "Looks like they got what was coming." She paused and thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll share your lesson with others. Especially the NCR, I'm not too keen on them anyways."

Vulpes saw the woman as just another profligate, but the fact that she shared a dislike (more like hatred for the Legion) for the NCR made her more fascinating. Now, she had turned her back and was beginning to leave, but his curiosity got the best of him, "Who are you?"

She ignored his question and kept walking, but stopped and turned back to him. "Me? You wouldn't recognize me."

Vulpes sneered at the challenge being presented before him, "You're not significant enough to know."

She grinned once more, and turned on her heel to leave Nipton, with the man following behind.

Vulpes smirked to himself, _profligate._

**The hardest thing about being a writer is having good ideas but having a hard time getting them into words. This seriously took forever to write, I've got the story of when Shep gets to go to the Fort but between now and then is so hard to write. Ahhhh, well next chapter hopefully I'll do better and it'll go quicker. Next chapter is probably where Vulpes shows up in his disguise and invites them to the Fort. Told you I was changing the timeline a little.**

**Don't forget to review please, it's frustrating to see how many people read my stories but not review. Your reviews make me want to write, so please R&R.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry if some of you don't like the explanation of the science of this crossover, I couldn't make the fallout universe take place on Earth because well…Mass Effect 3 trailers show Earth and it looks nothing like the Wasteland, obviously :p**

**And I didn't want to do something like a portal opened or something, those really aren't my things. Hmm, now that I look back maybe I could've done like a time travel or something. **  
><strong>Oh, and about the redoing of the story, don't worry I'm not messing with the storyline. What happened will still happen, all I'm doing is I'm making the characters more realistic, polishing the grammar and style. I got a beta :D <strong>

**Sorry for the long AN and thanks for the reviews, folks! **

**EDIT: wow, I can't believe I left some other beta notes in here...whoops  
><strong>

_Note from Beta: Mordin says Beware of Chafing _

* * *

><p>The gravel rustled under her black boots as she made her way towards the gift shop, trailing behind the Courier. Novac annoyed her already, especially that childish dinosaur; it gave her the creeps. Although, it did remind her of Grunt and Garrus back at home.<p>

Home. She hadn't thought of it like that ever since she'd arrived in the Wasteland. She was starting to miss her crew. It's not like she was worried. In fact, she was far from worried. Now that the Reapers were gone, there really isn't any threat to the galaxy besides the occasional petty attempts at piracy. It'd be outrageous for her to worry about the safety of the galaxy, but that didn't mean she didn't miss her crew.

At least they'd still visit, she told herself. Naima pushed her thoughts away for a later time and focused on the task at hand; finding the man who had shot John.

Inside the gift shop was Cliff, a nice fellow living in Novac. It was odd that he was here this late, maybe he was going to try and sell them rockets or something. He was a nice guy though, she had to give him that. He gave them a small discount in exchange for spreading the word about his shop, a fair deal.

"Do you've any idea where Manny Vargas is, Cliff?" The Courier asked as he leaned over the counter.

"He's usually upstairs, but at this time -"

Cliff was interrupted by John's "got it" and continued to organize his shelf as Shepard and the Courier headed upstairs.

Naima twisted the doorknob and slid the door open, revealing a hefty built sniper with a red beret. Even from looking at the back of his head she could tell he wasn't one to mess with.

The man ignored them at first, until John took another step inside. The sniper turned around with a peeved look etched into his face, along with his deep wrinkles and dark spots under the eyes – which you could see even with the sunglasses on. "Don't sneak up on me like that," he began with his eyebrows crinkled together in concern. "Who are you? You shouldn't be here."

Before John could get a word in, Naima started to speak. "We're looking for Manny Vargas. You seen him?"

Clearly the sniper was not in the mood to talk about this Manny person. "How about you leave and come back in the morning to find him?"

Naima did not like his tone, "And how about you sit and spin?"

John, aware of how most of her fights started, decided to butt in. "How about we both leave and just come back in the morning?" He put his hand lightly on Naima's lower back and noticed the sniper's shoulders relax. They both turned to the door when the sniper spoke again – this time in a low tone. "Wait. You're not from here. Maybe you can help." The two couldn't have been from Novac, especially if they were bugging him at this time of the night.

John kept his hand on Naima's back to keep her calm as they both turned to face the sniper, "Listen, err-" The Courier started.

"Boone."

"Right. Listen, _Boone_," the sniper's name rolled off John's tongue awkwardly. "We're really busy and we need to see Manny. Maybe after we're done dealing with our problems, we can deal with yours."

Boone's lips pressed together tightly. This was definitely not the answer he was looking for. He needed someone's life to pay for the death of his wife. But like the man said, they had their problems to deal with so Boone could understand. He simply nodded to the two and turned to resume his shift. Silently, he hoped the man kept his word.

Naima looked at the Courier, then the back of the sniper's head, then back to the Courier, and finally shrugged. "Let's go to bed, he'll be here in the morning."

"I really don't want to sleep until I find this piece of shit." The Courier yawned, betraying his need for rest. "But you're probably right."

* * *

><p>Jeannie May listened for the sound of two pairs of muffled footsteps. When she heard the door creak and close shut, she lowered her head to resume writing her letter.<p>

_The Courier and his friend just arrived this morning in Novac. They're hoping to meet Manny Vargas to find the man in the checkered suit. Whatever they're doing, it'll most likely lead them to the Strip. That would be your best bet in finding them._  
><em>Jeannie<em>

Earlier that day, she'd spoken to Manny about the whereabouts of the Khans and the man in the checkered suit. She learned that the group was most likely in Boulder City, but that there was a good chance they'd end up at the Strip. At least, that's what she hoped. The last thing she wanted was to get crucified for sending faulty information.

Knowing that the group would end up at the Strip made her wish that she could tell the Courier and his friend. They were putting their lives at great risk going to the REPCONN Facility in exchange for information. But she knew she had to give the Legion enough time to send their best _Frumentarius_ to the Strip.

She secretly hoped it'd be the one with the lovely voice.

* * *

><p><em>Beta Note: Tell her how much better her writing is so she decides to keep me<em>  
><strong>Next Chapter: Won't feature the repconn quest since all of you know how it goes down, so I'm going to skip to them going to Boulder City. That, or I might just send them to the strip. Remember as I said before, this is still early in the game.<strong>


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